Despite a valiant effort, the Webster University men's soccer team fell to host Westminster College in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship game, 2-1, on November 6 in Fulton, MO. The Gorloks put up a valiant battle against a Blue Jay squad that outscored conference opponents, 63-1, in its previous 10 SLIAC games.
Westminster took a lead just nine minutes into the contest when the Blue Jays scored on an unassisted goal. Webster's Zach Gyuricza (FR, Chicago, IL/St. Viator HS) answered that tally with an unassisted goal of his own at 14:00. Gyuricza dribbled in and nailed a shot passed the Blue Jay goalie Tanner Moesch to tie the game at 1-1. It was Gyuricza's team-leading ninth goal of the year.
The Blue Jays regained the lead at the 20:00 mark and had a chance to take a two-goal lead but Gorlok goalie Alex Bergmann (FR, Wentzville, MO/St. Dominic's HS) stopped a penalty kick at 33:00 to keep it a 2-1 Blue Jay lead going into the half. Westminster outshot Webster, 13-8, for the half.
Webster had a chance to tie the game 1:21 into the second half when it was awarded a penalty kick. A Brendan Shields (JR, St. Peter's, MO/Ft. Zumwalt East HS) shot was blocked by Moesch. The Gorloks next best chance to tie came with 39 seconds left in the game when a Gyuricza shot to tie the game was saved by Sherman as well.
The Blue Jays would up outshooting the Gorloks, 32-15, for the game. Bergmann would take the loss in goal as he faced the 32 shots, seven on goal, and made five saves in the game. His record fell to 8-2 for the season.
Westminster dominated the SLIAC in 2015, going a perfect 9-0 in the regular season, then winning its semi-final match-up with Fontbonne University, 5-0. The Blue Jays are 17 -2 overall, outscoring its opponents, 82-11, on the season.
Gorloks had advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 win over Greenville College in a semi-final on November 4 at the Soccer Park. For their efforts in both contests, Gyuricza, Drew Quisenberry (FR, Morton, IL/Morton HS), and Jake Stowers (JR, St. Louis, MO/St. Louis CC) were named to the 2015 SLIAC Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team.
Webster can take solace in knowing that it will lose only one player to graduation in 2016 and has a solid freshmen nucleus that included five of its top six scorers and a freshman goalkeeper.
Webster finished the season 9-10-2 overall, including a 6-2-1 record in the SLIAC.